This invention relates to improved furniture constructions having substantial rigidity, and more particularly to a rigid furniture construction incorporating a modular arrangement to permit the rapid replacement of damaged elements and thereby avoid the necessity to replace an entire piece of furniture in the event of damage to only a part thereof.
In those instances where furniture is utilized by the general public in public places or in places where the user remains on a relatively intermittent or short time basis, such as a hotel or motel room, a ship cabin, or the like, the propensity for damage to such furniture is substantial. Although a large number of people are careful in their use of articles owned by others and provided for use by the public, there is a substantial segment of the population which takes no pains whatsoever to make only reasonable uses of furniture in such publicly-occupied places. Furniture utilized in hotels, motels, ship cabins, and the like is frequently damaged or rapidly soiled because of the lack of care of those using it. Although the soilage problem can be overcome by the use of plastics materials, occasionally such materials are torn or cut, and repair is often difficult to conceal, the repaired furniture having an unattractive, battered appearance. When such conditions have occurred in the past, it became necessary either to replace the article of furniture or to incur substantial repair costs in order that repairs of a non-obvious nature could be made.